Machine for extracting fluid from cloth or other material



A. BIRCH Jan. 13, 193 1.

MACHINE FOR EXTRACTING FLUID FROM CLOTH OR OTHER MATERIAL Filed may 51,1 930 2.Sheets-Sheet 1 lnQenTof 'A\berT Birch byWMkM ATTys.

- Ja1; .13,1931. ABRCH" -1',789,132-

MACHINE FOR EXTRAC'I'ING FLUID FROM CLOTH OR OTHER MATERIAL.

' Filed May '51. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \nvenTor.

A\ berT Birch by AdTy-S.

Patented Jan. 13', 1931 ALBERT BIRCH, 70F BELMONT; MASSACHUSETTS MACHINEFUR EXTRACTING FLUID FROM CLOTH OR OTHER MATERIAL Application filed ma31,

This invention relates to a machine for extracting' liquid or fluid fromcloth or other web material and particularly to a machine of theso-called vacuum hydro extractor type. These machines areusuallyfprovided with a tube or pipeover which the'cloth passes andwhich is provided with one ormore slots SUthatasthecloth isdrawn'overthe pipe it will pa'ssacross the slot or slots;

Thepipeor tube is connected toa vacuum or suction device by means ofwhich vacuuni conditions are created within the tube. As a result thevacuumwithin the tube will act onthe portion of theoloth which spans theslot or slots of the tube thereby sucking or drawing the water or otherfluid from the cloth, the fluid being deposited in the tube and beingremoved either by'drainage or by means of thesuction device.

I Intheseflmachi'nesthe cloth is'often of less width than the'length ofthe slotted portion of the tube so" that the "extremities of the slottedportion are beyond the edges of the cloth; The present invention relatesparticu- 2 't ovel'mean's'for automatically Olos-' in'g these uncoveredporti ofthe Slot g slots.

The features wherein the invention resides will be more fullyhereinatterset forth and then pointedout in the appendedclaimsi In the drawings:Fig." 1 isa. fragmentarysectional view illustrating a portion of aVacuum tube ofa hydro extractor and showing one form which Fig. 2 is'atransverse section throug'h Fig;

ig. 3 is a sectionontlie line3'3; Fig; 2 g i Fig; 4 is a view of one. ofthe slot-closing 4'0 fin e-rs"; i v

Fig. 5 is an endview of t Fig. 9- is a fragmentary perspective Viewshowingfa difi'erent embodiment of the inventron.

so Inasmuch as the present invention relates 1980.; Serial No. 458,815.

but have shown only a sufficient portion thereof to enable the inventionto be understood.

7 In Figs. 1 and 2, 1 indicates the vacuum tube over which the cloth 3is passed. said tube having one or more slots tormed'therein so situatedthat the cloth passes over the slotted portion of the tube. The tube mayhave one or a plurality of slots and the slots may'have any desiredarrangement so long: as they are located in the portion of thetube withwhich' the cloth engages as it is moved forward; In the particular jconstruction f sh own'the tube isvprov-ided with a single slot 45extending longitudinally thereof. 1 a

This tubeis shown ass upported in suitable brackets or suppOrts' lOwhich are carri ed by the machine and it will be understood that it isconnected to a suitable suction apparatus so that vacuum conditions willbe 1 created within the tube. i

The slot'or slots in theitube may extend 7 beyond the edges of thetclothfrom which the-fluid is being extracted, in which case'the ends of theslot or slots willbe exposed beyond the" edges of the cloth;

i As stated above, my present invention relates to a novel means forautomatically clos ing' the exposed portions of the slot or slots; Inthe construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 this is accomplished by means ofslot-closing fingers 5 in the form of strips of'suita'ble material'which are supported at one end in a suitable support 6 and at theirother end restv on the tube and closethe slot thereof. As the clothisdrawn over the tube 1 the edges ofthecloth will pass under certain ofthe slot-closing fingers thereby raising them slightly from the tube butthe fingers which are-outside of the'e'dge of the cloth will maintainthe exposed portion ofthe slot or slots closed. V a V 7 g In theconstruction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 i each finger-is secured to a hubportion 7 and thesejhubs are situated within the tubular support 6 anda'reloosely mounted on av rod 7 S W'hich extendsaxially ofthetubula'r'support 6. This support 6 is provided with a longitudinalslot 9 through which the fingers extend. The tubular member 6 is shownas carried by a bracket arm 10 extending from the support 4 for thevacuum tube. With this construction the fingers 5 are capable ofindependent movement so that the particular fingers under which thecloth 3 passes are free to be raised slightly to permit the cloth topass freely while the remaining fingers will lie against the vacuum tube1 and.

7 withdrawn will automatically drop into position to close theadditionalportion of the slot which'is thus uncovered. f

In Figsro and 7 I have shown a somewhat different embodiment of theinvention. In

this construction thevarious slot-closing fingers, which are indicatedat 50, are integrally connected together, they being formed from a pieceof sheet material '16 by slitting the same as indicated at 11. Theseslits extend I shown at 15.

from the edge of the sheet part way toward the opposite edge; Theconnected gang of fingers50i's illustrated as secured to a supportingrod 12 which is'carried by the bracket arm 10 extending from the support14 for the vacuum tube 1. i

In order to preventthe slot-closing fingers from catching on each otheras they are raised or lowered due to any shift in the position of theedge of. the cloth, I propose to make the slot-closing end of thefingers so that they will have a vertical dimension greater than anyvertlcalmovement whichthey will have during the operation of themachine. This may be readily accomplished by making the end portion ofeach finger'consiclerably thicker than the body thereof as This is shownin Fig. 7 where theindividual fingers are indicated at 15,

they being formed as shown in Fig. 6 by making slits in a piece of sheetmaterial 17. Where the fingers are thus formed from sheet material theadded thickness may be provided by securing a block 18 to the end ofeach finger 15. These blocks will have a vertical dimension greater thanany vertical movement which the fingers may have in the normaloperationof the machine,

. I propose to make each block 18 slightly wider than the correspondingfinger, the eX- tra width being sufficient to make up for the width ofthe slits l1 and with this construction the side faces of adjacentblocks will engage each other so there will be no cracks or spacesbetween the portions of adjacent fingers that overlie the slot 4. Withsuch a construction there will be more uniform extraction of the fluidfrom the cloth than where the spaces exist between adjacent fingers.

block 53 secured thereto at its end to provide the 'desirea addedthickness at this point. In this embodiment the sheet material 52 issecured at its non-slitted end to the under side of a tube 54 which issuitably supported in. bracketsor arms. 7 r a In this embodiment aflexible flap member 56 of rubber, rubberized cloth or similar materialoverlies the fingers, said flexible flap. member being secured atoneedge to the tube 54 as shown at 57. This fiap member'applies a certainamount of weight tothe fingers to retain them firmly against the clothand it also serves to close any cracks or spaces, that mightexistbetween the fingers and thereby secures more uniform extraction ofmoisture.

Where the slot-closing fingers are situated at the ends of the tube'onlyas shown in Figs. 1 and 6 the two edges of the cloth will pass undersome of the fingers while the center portion of the cloth is entirelyexposed. With such an arrangement the fluid is likely to be extracted toa different extent from the portion of the cloth that is exposed fromwhat it is in theportion'of the cloth covered by the fingers. Itijsvwithin my invention to place the fingers throughout the full lengthofthe. vacuum tube l and where this is donefthe fluid will be uniformlyextracted fromthe cloth throughout its entire width.

The construction offingers shown in Figs. 7 and 9 hasthe advantage thatsince the adj acent fingersare in contact with each other the effect onthe cloth is the same as if it were drawn under a solid sheet of metaland even a cloth of delicatetexture canbe passed under the fingerswithout any marks or streaks left thereon by the individual fingers.

I claim 1. In a machine for extracting fluid from cloth, the combinationwith a vacuum tube provided with a slot' over which the cloth to betreated is drawn, a supporting member situated in the rear of said tube,a plurality of independently movable slot-closing fingers carried bysaid supporting member and having their free ends resting on the tube atthe slotted portion thereof and normally closing the slot. 7

2. In a device .of the class described, the combination with a vacuumtube having. a slot, asupport for said tube, a bracket extending fromsaid support, a plurality of slot-closing fingers mounted on the bracketand having their free ends overlying the slot of the vacuum tube.

3. In a machine for extractingfluid from cloth, the combination with avacuum tube provided with a slot over which the cloth to be treated isdrawn, a supporting member situated in the rear of said tube, aplurality of independently movable slot-closing fingers carried by saidsupporting member and having their free ends resting on the tube at theslot thereof and normally closing the slot the free end of eachslot-closing finger having a vertical dimension greater than anyvertical movement which the finger has in operation of the machine. I Intestimony whereof, I have signed my nameto this specification.

ALBERT BIRCH.

